to the Providence Phoenix, June 26th, 2007:
Dear Sir or Madam —
In your June 22nd article, "It's Not Easy Being Green", Seth Handy of Struever Brothers
Eccles & Rouse explains why SBER's Dynamo House project for Providence's waterfront will not
include the solar panels that were initially planned for its rooftop: the State of Rhode
Island does not provide adequate tax incentives for green building and solar power initiatives.
However, the Struever Brothers company plans to spend a purported six million dollars on
"artistically" replacing six of the giant smokestacks that once rose from the roof of the
Narragansett Electric Company building. Their purpose will be mainly symbolic: "the stacks
will have monumental impact on Providence," claims the project website, www.thedynamohouse.com.
The smokestacks will also carry a monumental lighted sign advertising the Dynamo House (which
exceeds Providence's signage size restriction), and according to the website, the stacks will "look
solid and functional in the daytime and ... radiate a changing mixture of colored lights at night."
It is embarrassing that SBER claims to not be able to afford solar panels without the state's
assistance -- while they apparently are willing to spend whatever it takes to create a "signature
image" for their new development. By incorporating solar electricity into the project, Dynamo House
could be a truly forward-looking restoration of a building that is already an electrical power
landmark. Instead, the developers have chosen image over substance, spending their money on boosting
their own appearance, while waiting for the state to come through with funding for initiatives that
would benefit all the people of Providence. These decisions carry echoes of the 2006 hearings for
SBER's ALCO project on Valley St, when the developers pressured the city and state to provide funding
for the public roadway and bridge that will pass through that development. Struever Brothers'
actions in Rhode Island continue to undermine their assertions that they have the best interest of
the community at heart.
Sincerely,
Jean G. Cozzens
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more information:
Marisa Angell Brown's article from June 22
Royal Mills, another Struever Bros. real estate project in Rhode Island
Struever Brothers in Providence
letter from Nick Horton to the City Plan Commission about SBER's "ALCO" development
blog post by Ian Donnis about tax breaks in Olneyville
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